


The Best Meal Ever Made

by taotruths



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Cooking, F/M, Fluff, No Spoilers, Post-Canon, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:40:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27029749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taotruths/pseuds/taotruths
Summary: For Makoto Niijima, cooking has always been a hobby she loved participating in. One recipe that she had never learned, was the ever so famous Leblanc Curry. Ren, willing to teach, wishes to put a spin on the traditional curry plate. Together, they join forces in cooking, quite possibly, one of the best meals ever made.
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Niijima Makoto, Kurusu Akira/Niijima Makoto, Niijima Makoto/Persona 5 Protagonist
Comments: 1
Kudos: 27
Collections: ShuMako Mini Bang





	The Best Meal Ever Made

**Author's Note:**

> Good day ShuMako lovers, and thank you for giving this story a read!
> 
> Written as part of the ShuMako Mini-Bang
> 
> Very big shout out to my partner, Kyo Tan (known as @kyorin_707 on twitter) for providing the accompanying piece that goes with this fic!
> 
> Very big thanks to everyone who participated, especially those who banded together to make this thing happen!

It was going so well earlier. Ren and Makoto had a fun date. That was until the torrent of rain had hit them just as things were looking bright and sunny. Their first priority was taking shelter from the harsh downpour, and the closest place to do so was the familiar cafe that they call a second home.

_CLING-CLANG!_

The familiar sound of the cafe’s door swinging open, alongside the chime of the bell was a huge relief to the pair, both of them panting as they sat down in one of the booths. Ren lay back in his seat, looking at the ceiling as he tried to catch his breath.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t do the things we wanted to do today, Mako...” Ren apologized sadly. Makoto shook her head as she snuggled up to him.

“Don’t be, we had a lot of fun today, even if it had to be cut short,” she said, giving a soft kiss to his cheek.

“True enough. Now we can enjoy our time inside.” As he said that however, the sound of his stomach was heard as they got closer together. A red blush came upon his face, as Makoto just smiled in response.

“Feeling hungry are we?” Makoto asked coyly. Ren nodded, moving himself out of the booth, but Makoto decided to follow him out as well, both of them approaching the kitchen portion of Leblanc. Makoto then scooted in front of him, holding an arm out and pushing him back a bit.

“Not this time, RenRen, allow me.” she said with an air of confidence. Ren cocked an eyebrow at her as she began to look through the fridge for some basic ingredients for her curry. There seemed to be just about enough leftover ingredients, plus some already prepared frozen curry that was inside from earlier in the day as well. As tempting as it was to heat up the one that had already been made, Makoto had a brilliant plan already turning its gears in her head.

_This shouldn’t be a problem, curry shouldn’t be too difficult to make._

Out in front of her were leftover potatoes, carrots, onions, as well as oil and some raw marinated meat that she found inside the fridge. One thing she didn’t account for was one of the most important parts of the curry: the roux.

The curry she’d mostly cooked for her sister had premade roux blocks that she would be able to throw in and mix together in order to create the rest. However, Sojiro Sakura, the curry aficionado, and self-proclaimed expert at the art of creating a perfect plate, had no such roux blocks available in the cafe. Makoto surmised that it was due to his pride and desire to create the best curry his customers would taste that he opted to create his own roux that would compliment the dish to the best it could possibly be.

“Ren?” she asked her boyfriend, “Do you have the recipe for Sojiro-san’s roux?”

He looked up from his phone, shaking his head. “Sorry, I left the recipe cards back at your apartment when I visited last time.”

A nervous squeak came out of her throat, but she quickly put on a false smile. “Oh, I see.” She then pulled her phone out, typing in an easy recipe for a roux, grabbing the various spices off of the rack and placing them onto the counter. 

Seeing his girlfriend try and do something essentially in the dark caused Ren to stand up. “Mako, it’s okay, we can just eat Sojiro’s frozen leftovers.”

Looking at the unchopped ingredients that she had on the cutting board, the preheated yet unused pot, and the assortment of spices on the counter made her feel defeated. She began putting the unused ingredients back into the fridge, while Ren proceeded to place the frozen curry from its containers into the preheated pot, allowing it to thaw out.

A few minutes later, the two had two warmed up plates of curry, the sounds of the rain outside of the cafe enveloping the atmosphere. The two then placed their hands together as they sat on opposite sides of the table.

“Thanks for the food!” While Ren’s prayer was said with enthusiasm, Makoto was a little bit downcast, with him taking notice immediately while they ate.

“It’s good, even if it’s reheated,” she admitted sheepishly. Ren gave his girlfriend a quizzical stare, which caused her to chuckle a bit.

“Sorry. I guess I just wanted to surprise you by making something similar to your or Sojiro-san’s cooking. I’ve always liked it, and you’ve always been the one cooking curry for me.” She then looked straight ahead at him, tilting her head. “I don’t think you ever taught me how to cook Leblanc’s curry before.”

Ren laughed it off a little, giving a fond smile.

“It’s a trade secret but…” He then looked back at Makoto, who was pouting a bit, giving a thoughtful look to the ceiling. “If I’m gonna teach you the recipe that’s charmed several hundreds of people over...let’s put a unique spin on it!”

Makoto’s eyes lit up, an idea forming in her head.

“A spin on curry rice?” she thought out loud.

“Do you have anything that you would think would make a great combo with Sojiro’s curry?” Makoto had a light bulb appear in her brain, the idea illuminated fully.

“You like omurice, right?” Ren nodded without hesitation, his train of thought following hers.

“So what you’re saying is–”

They both then stood up at the same time, a twinkle in their eyes with the same thought.

“Leblanc Curry Omurice!”

* * *

_The next day:_

“Cinnamon, Beef, Apples…” Makoto muttered as she checked off the list of items they needed for the curry part.

“I got the eggs! I think that’s everything that we need,” Ren said holding his own basket of groceries.

“Alright! Then let’s get moving!” As she started walking towards the checkout section, Ren spotted something out of the corner of his eye. Walking closer, the realization hit him like a thunderbolt, getting a rather devious smile across his features.

A secret ingredient.

“Ren-kun!” As he heard the sound of his girlfriend calling to him, he added the item to the basket and mixed it together with the rest of his items, bringing it with him to the checkout.

“Sorry,” he apologized, placing his items on the conveyor belt. “I just remembered I forgot to grab something important for the curry.”

“At least you remembered, now we don’t have to worry about it when we get back!” she sighed in relief, while a smirk curved up upon his lips. They both carried their bags of groceries to the apartment complex Makoto was staying at.

* * *

The apartment door swung open as the couple carefully placed the bags onto the counter, with Ren organizing them. Meanwhile, Makoto grabbed one of the aprons that was hanging on the side of the kitchen railing, and threw it on. From the front pocket, she then retrieved a spare hair tie, scrunching the rest of her loose hair back into a tiny ponytail. Ren stopped for a brief second, giving her a small smile.

“Now you’re looking like a true Iron Chef.” he said cheekily.

The compliment got an eye roll from her. She got the second apron and tossed it to him. Catching it without missing a beat, he put it on as well, and proceeded to pull the necessary hardware out from the cupboards and shelves nearby. Meanwhile, Makoto retrieved a book with a chef’s hat sticker and Buchimaru-kun sticker on its cover from the shelf, placing it on a dry and clean spot on the counter. It was a makeshift recipe book that she had been working on, and Leblanc’s classic curry recipe was also in the book, in the form of the recipe cards that Ren received before he left Tokyo many moons ago. Opening it to the appropriate page, she then proceeded to unwrap and open up the bags for the curry ingredients first, as it would require the most time, based on her estimates. She would end up teaching Ren how to create the omurice later, as she was already pretty familiar with it, and it would be one more dish for him to add to his repertoire.

Ren reached for a giant pot under the counter, pulling it out as he watched Makoto reading the directions intensely. A sheepish grin spread across his features as he saw his girlfriend squinting a bit, trying to understand every last instruction to the letter. Placing the large pot on the stovetop, he gave her a reassuring touch on the shoulder, feeling her relax at the contact.

“I know that you want to get this right, so we’ll take it slowly.” She then turned to face him, as he gave a reassuring smile.

“As they say, easier learning by doing.” Makoto then pulled out the book and they began setting up two stations for their preparations. Taking various measurements of the spices they had, she was sizing the possible different taste combinations that were available. While she was doing this, Ren took a small cursory glance from his station, where he was chopping apart the uncut boneless beef they bought from the market. A quick note popped into his head as she was still measuring the spices.

_The secret ingredient._

He noticed that one shopping bag was on the counter, next to the veggies.

Being quiet as he could, he slipped away from his station, taking a peek inside the bag.

It was still there.

A sigh of relief was released from under his breath, where he then plucked it out of the paper bag, pocketing it, grabbing the nearby salt and peppercorn bags that were also inside, moving them towards his station. Thankfully she didn’t seem to notice, so he placed the bar above him in the nearby cupboard, making sure not to make a sound while doing so. Makoto’s eyes peeked up from her intense focus for the moment, seeing her boyfriend had already retrieved the meat’s seasoning. Looking at the spices one more time, she nodded, giving a small fist pump to herself.

Ren held in a snicker. His girlfriend’s giddy excitement over the smallest thing was so adorable!

Said girlfriend then moved over to the veggies that were on the other side, cutting board and knife at the ready. Time suddenly seemed to slow for a small bit, Ren noticing the room had a radically different atmosphere opposed to when they started earlier in the afternoon.

Both her eyes then opened, almost as if a fire awoke within her. She grabbed an onion, chopping it in half with a single cleave, cleanly. The sound of the knife hitting the board resonated through the kitchen, with a hearty clack. It didn’t stop there, as she continued chopping the onion at high-speeds, until all the pieces were perfectly portioned.

Ren did a double take as he realized the area was back to normal, Makoto having moved on to the carrots and potatoes. He did however still see that steely determination in her eyes as she continued chopping away at them with intensity.

Shaking his head, he just chuckled to himself. Futaba’s cooking animes must have been getting to him.

He began to season the meat, starting with the salt, and then alternating with the pepper, deciding to add a hint of paprika as well to the beef chunks that he had. As soon as the chunks were all evenly (according to his eyes at least) seasoned, he moved to the pot he had set up, keeping the meat to the left of it. He then moved over to Makoto’s side, where she had also just finished preparing her ingredients, as indicated by her wiping some sweat off of her brow.

The last bit of preparation was for the ingredients that didn’t need to be chopped. Taking the one apple gently, she started peeling the skin off with a knife, having already minced the ginger and garlic while she chopped the other veggies.

“Y’know,” Ren said as he passed her the grater to her table, “you really do get intense about cooking.”

Makoto looked back at him, taken a bit aback, but returned to grating the apple into another bowl.

“I’ve always liked it, ever since I was little too,” she said wistfully, grating it slowly. “When my Father was still around, we’d always prepare something together. He taught Sis and me how to make some really basic things, but it was always so much fun.” A smile of nostalgia came over her features as she reminisced. “Now whenever I cook, I like experimenting with things I’m already familiar with making.” 

Ren was turning up the heat on the stove as he smiled fondly as well. “Kinda like right now?” he asked. 

Makoto then brought the rest of the necessary ingredients needed to the stove, ready to begin the true challenges ahead. “Absolutely.” 

Ren stepped away from the stove, allowing Makoto to take the lead with the handle, passing her a wooden spoon. The first thing they were preparing on the stovetop was the homemade roux. Ren had turned up the heat to low, as well as putting some flour onto the slightly hot pan.

“What you want to do here, is to stir it while it’s heating up,” he instructed as she turned the flour around.

“And make sure that it browns…” Makoto recalled.

The process was not very fast, but they had steadfast patience as Makoto stirred the flour slowly. It wasn’t until thirty minutes later that it all started to even out in color.

“Does this color seem good?” she asked. She was confident it was but just had to double check, with a thumbs up from her beau giving her the confidence she needed to continue.

“Alright! Next, the spices…” she muttered, taking in the scent of the aromatic mixture as it blended together with the flour. Once the spices combined together evenly, a proud smile came over her face as she moved them to the side, taking in the smell. Meanwhile, Ren turned the heat up, putting the large pot over it, as well as the oil, followed by the seasoned beef. Makoto immediately noticed the crackling sounds coming from the hot oil in the pot, seeing her boyfriend in the process of turning the mea. She then walked over to the pot, carrying a bottle and measuring cup.

“It’s all browned now. The wine, if you please?” Makoto responded by carefully pouring a cup of the red bottle’s contents into the pot, and then got three cups of water to add to the beef mixture as well.

Taking a bay leaf from the counter, Ren gave it a tiny drop, the little leaf plopping into the liquid, causing ripples on the watery surface. Mako then placed the lid on top, steam starting to condense underneath the clear glass.

“Let’s wait till it boils, then we can allow it to simmer,” she said. Ren stretched his back a bit, Makoto doing the same. He then grabbed a completely separate, however deep, frying pan, intending for them to cook their curry in.

Makoto went back to the recipe book, making notes of the small changes they’d made to Sojiro’s original recipe cards. Ren passed the time scrolling through his phone, checking the pot every so often until he noticed the boiling meat.

“And now, to let it simmer,” he said, turning the heat down to a lower setting. Makoto set a timer on her phone. They decided half an hour would be the best amount of time to allow it to simmer for it to bring out its full potential. In the meantime, Ren fired up the free side of the stove, along with the pan and oil. “Alright,” Ren then held up a hand, briefly confusing Makoto for a second. “Your turn, Queen.”

The cockiness of his familiar Joker persona was nothing short but endearing. Giving a slight chuckle, she complied with his request, his hand and hers meeting with the ever signature baton pass that they had refined, with Queen now up to plate.

Ren decided to be a little too cheeky. He patted her on the rear as his hand came down, causing his queen to squeak from the contact. She frowned, unable to hide her blush as she refocused her attention to the pan.

_She was definitely going to get back at him later._

* * *

Ren proceeded to add the onions, both of them taking care to caramelize them properly. Eventually, the amber brown color spread across them, the room taking on a lovely smell of onions. Giving a small nod, Ren added the rest in, one by one.

“Apples, garlic, carrots, potatoes…” he muttered, watching them plop against the oil, with a satisfying fizzle sound from the oil.

The oil continued to stir fry the rest of the veggies that were inside, sizzling on the bottom. Scooping the spice mixture into a separate bowl, he then lowered it on top of the veggies, in order for them to get the spice as well.

Once the spices took on their new form, Makoto took a ladle off of the wall, scooping some of the beef stock that was simmering. She poured it into the pan, continuing to mix and ladle some more every few minutes, repeating this cycle until it started forming into a sort of paste.

“Good, good. Now keep doing that, and we’ll add the beef in now,” Ren said, double checking his recipe card.

Soon enough, the beef, stock, and spices were all mixing together, and had formed into Sojiro’s familiar dish. The warmth coming from the pan radiated a nostalgic sense of familiarity as both of them inhaled the scent. All that was left were the ingredients that they didn’t prepare themselves; Makoto quickly poured in the worcester sauce, salt, and yogurt. When she reached for the next ingredient, a bar of chocolate, Ren placed a hand on hers.

“Let me take over now, you should get the stuff ready for the omurice,” Ren advised. Makoto was a bit skeptical, but she did offer to teach him how to cook one of her favorite dishes, so she left the station, giving control to Ren. He then placed the chocolate bar into the above cupboard, swapping it with the one he retrieved earlier; a chocolate bar that had a very familiar panda mascot on its wrapping. Unwrapping the familiar bar, he gave a small smirk at the Buchimaru-kun branded chocolate, placing the dark square in the middle, face down so that his girlfriend wouldn’t notice. He then placed the coffee that he knew was lying around in the apartment into the mixture, along with the rest of the ingredients needed. Stirring the pot, he waited for her to return so she would continue teaching him.

An evil glint then took hold within his eye as he opened the cupboard above, reaching for a big red bottle that had the familiar Jack-O-Lantern persona on it, until Makoto grabbed his arm.

“No,” she said.

“Just a little–” he protested, until he was met with the fire of his girlfriend’s glare.

_“No,”_ she said again, albeit more sternly. As a result, he backed down, putting the bottle back.

“One day…” he muttered, staring intently at the closed cupboard, his neglected bottle of hot sauce remaining untouched.

At this point, Makoto moved the pan to another open spot on the stove, placing a completely different one on the heat, giving it some butter as well. She kept the heat low, turning her attention to the next dish they’d be cooking to go with the curry: the omurice.

* * *

Ren took a quick look over the ingredients on display, from one of the eggs already cracked into a bowl, to the bowls of sugar and salt, as well as the butter. Makoto handed him a pair of chopsticks.

“This is something that I recently learned myself, but do you see the white parts here in the egg near the yolk?” To demonstrate her point, she carefully placed the chopsticks near the yolk, delicately extracting the white goop from it. “It actually helps mixing the eggs a lot more smoothly if you remove it! Not entirely necessary all the time, but it’s still really neat!” she exclaimed with a bit of glee.

“I see…” Ren said, nodding to himself with a hand on his chin. Makoto then cracked the second egg, opening a little hole from the crack, and letting the whites out.

“Of course, this is always the alternative method.” When the yolk had also been added to the bowl, Ren was given the pair of chopsticks. Understanding immediately, he started mixing the two orbs of yellow, Makoto smiling as she saw the two mixing together perfectly. Once the mixture had unified into a cohesive liquid, Ren slowed down, allowing Makoto to hold a cup of milk in one of her hands, salt and pepper in the other.

“One tablespoon of milk,” she said as she poured the ingredient carefully into the bowl, taking care not to splash it everywhere, “and the salt plus pepper…” Sprinkling them into the bowl, Ren grabbed one whisk that was hanging off of the wall hooks, a glint shining over his glasses.

“And then…” Ren’s arm moved almost like a whirlwind, whisking the eggs and milk together like a vicious tornado. Amazingly enough, his proficiency with the bowl and whisk in tandem created a marvelous display of speed, with not a single drop spilt. Makoto could only stare slack-jawed until the whisk eventually stopped, the eggs now mixed together perfectly.

It was ready for the frying pan.

Turning her attention to the heated buttery pan, Makoto took control, pouring the eggs in. “How would you like them, Ren?” she asked politely.

“My eggs?”

“Yes.” Her initial response was accompanied by her carefully swirling the eggs around the pan. “The omelette can be cooked like a thin egg layer, or scrambled.”

“Oh.” He chuckled as the obvious realization came to him. “Then I prefer mine scrambled babe.” he said with a smile.

The eggs began to solidify on the bottom. He took the chopsticks from the counter, pulling them in a direction to separate and make them the expected scramble shape. She also took care to fill in any gaps that were made from the state they were in, until it all became a single entity, causing her to beam brightly at the finished product.

“And just like that, it’s finished!” She took the sunshine colored entity, pushing it towards a bowl shaped pile of rice that she prepared beforehand, and covered it with the egg. Ren then grabbed a ladleful of curry, pouring it over and across the egg and rice, a huge smile appearing on his face as the smell of the egg, curry, and rice filled his nostrils.

“Amazing…” he muttered aloud asMakoto passed him two eggs and the bowl.

“Your turn, _babe_ ,” she said with a coy smile.

* * *

Ren was a natural at making his portion of the omelette rice, and soon enough, there were two plates ready: both with an egg covering a healthy portion of rice, and some curry to go alongside it. Ren quickly snapped a picture of their accomplishment, while Makoto grabbed a set of utensils. They both took a seat at the table.

“Thanks for the food!” they both said cheerfully before digging a spoonful into the egg, curry, and rice combination, their eyes sparkling with delight upon their first bite.

“Amazing…” Makoto muttered, taking the flavors in. “I love omelette rice alone by itself, but the mixture of the rice, the curry, and the buttery egg…” Ren himself couldn’t help but smile as well, letting out a sigh.

“It’s so warm...it can’t be described as anything but pure heavenly bliss,” he remarked, taking another spoonful.

“Now you’re just bragging,” Makoto snarked back as the two of them enjoyed the meal. As she ate their new creation, she couldn’t help but wonder at the familiarity of the flavors used in the curry. There were no deathly hot spices, like the bottle that she had hid in the cabinet, but the opposite. A certain sweetness to it that was nostalgic.

“Ren…” she started as he looked up, a certain smile forming upon his face.

“A certain part of the flavor is very familiar to me, but I just can’t put my finger on it. What exactly did you put in it?” she asked. Ren then pulled out from inside the apron pocket he had left on the counter a familiar wrapped chocolate bar. Makoto gasped upon seeing the cuddly mascot on the paper.

“Your favorite Buchi-colate bar. I thought it’d be a nice ‘secret’ ingredient. Although it seems like you discovered it pretty quickly,” he said with a chuckle. Makoto just giggled a bit as well, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“You didn’t need to go that far, Ren. But, still...thank you so much, for the meal, and the recipe.” Ren returned the kiss, a warm smile on his.

“Likewise, my queen.” That earned him a playful slap on his shoulder, as Makoto sat back down in her seat. Ren however had another idea, seeing as they were still eating, both of them having a little bit left. He tapped her shoulder, holding a portion of his curry covered egg and rice in a spoon in front of her.

“Say ah,” he cooed. Makoto rolled her eyes, but decided to humor him this time. Her open mouth was then filled with the curry, the familiar flavors kicking in again. Not wanting to be outdone, she also took a portion of her own, holding it out to him.

“Your turn, casanova,” she cooed back. Ren did the same, the curry sliding into his mouth as well.

The sun shined down into the dining area, where the two simply rested their hands upon each other, their foreheads touching as they leaned into each other.

They had made some great meals before, but this might truly be the best one yet.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for reading this piece I wrote for the Mini-bang. It was a lot of work between me and my collaborators in this project, and we're so glad it's taken off!
> 
> Another huge thank you to my partner Kyo, who provided the art piece that is a part of this fic.


End file.
